Cemetery Tours

The days are darkening earlier and the spookiest day of the year is on the horizon. The Berkshire County Historical Society is acknowledging the spirit(s) of the season with a graveyard tour in Pittsfield October 27th. The rain date for Pittsfield is October 28th.

The twilight tour begins at 5 PM at the cemetery entrance.

The Pittsfield Cemetery, located at 203 Wahconah Street, dates to 1850 and is the final resting place of many prominent Pittsfield residents. In her tour Berkshire County Historical Society Executive Director Lesley Herzberg will share the stories of many of them, including early Phineas Allen, an newspaper publisher; Col. William Williams, one of the first settlers of Pontoosuc Plantation and for many years its most highly educated person; U.S. Sen. Henry Dawes, author of 1887’s Dawes Act, intended to stimulate assimilation of Native Americans by ending their tribal governments and control of communal land; Sarah Morewood, poet and possible lover of Herman Melville, and the Rev. Thomas Allen, Pittsfield’s first pastor and chaplain for three Berkshire Regiments during the Revolution.

Participants should wear sturdy footwear as the tours traverse uneven terrain.